Dirait-on/Singing in French

Eliminate ’n’ 

ban = bã										
don = dõ
en = ãn
ten = ãn
chant = shã
on = õ
son = sõ
ain = æ     [‘æ’ as in ‘cat’]
in = æ
ventes = vãtuh

Text and translations

Abandon entouré d’abandon,
Tendresse touchant aux tendresses..
C’est ton intérieur qui sans cesse se caresse,

Dirait-on….

Se caresse en soi-même, par son propre reflet éclairé.
Ainsi tu inventes le thème
Du Narcisse exaucé.

Word-for-word:

Abandon surrounding abandon, Tenderness touching tenderness...
Your oneness endlessly caresses itself, so they say;
Self-caressing through its own clear reflection.
Thus you invent the theme of Narcissus fulfilled.

More freely:
Abandon enveloping abandon, Tenderness brushing tendernesses,
Who you are sustains you eternally, so they say;
Your very being is nourished by its own enlightened reflection;
So you compose the theme of Narcissus redeemed.

Even more freely:
Wildness surrounding wildness, Tenderness touching tenderness,
It is your own core that you ceaselessly caress, .... as they say.
It is your own centre that you caress, Your own reflection gives you light.
And in this way, you show us how Narcissus is redeemed.

Pronunciation guide:

Ah-bah-do na-too-ree da-ba-do
Ta-dre-suh too-shah ota-dre-suh 
Seh to nae-tee-ree-oer kee sa seh-suh suh ca-reh-suh,

Dee-reh, dee-reh- to

Suh ca-re-suh ah swah meh-muh, par so pro-pruh ruh-flee—ee-cleh-ree
Ae-see tu ae-vah-tuh luh teh-muh
Du nar-seess egg-zoh-see.

Someone’s thoughts on the poem:

The title "Dirait-on" may be translated as "As They Say", or "So It Seems", or even as "As One Would Say ..." or "So It Is Said ..."
Any of these phrases can be substituted for the phrase "... as they say" in the poem itself. 

The words in French are from a collection of poems about roses by Rilke, a European poet who wrote in the early 1900's. Rilke often wrote lyrical, mysterious poetry, and often wrote about roses.

In this poem, on one level, Rilke is describing a rose. In this interpretation, Rilke sees a rose and its petals as "wildness surrounding wildness," and yet "tenderness touching tenderness." He marvels that the wild and delicate rose petals are caressing the core, the center, of the rose.

Rilke then refers to the sad story of Narcissus, the vain youth from Greek and Roman mythology. When Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water of a river for the first time, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, not realizing it was himself. He was so in love with himself, that he refused to eat, and soon wasted away and died. To help remember him, the narcissus flower grew where he had been. In some versions of the story, Narcissus's soul descends to hell, where he is doomed to look at his reflection forever, and may never see another person.

In Rilke's poem (and in this song), the wildness, tenderness, and self-awareness of the rose is contrasted with Narcissus, and perhaps Rilke is suggesting that the rose can show us how Narcissus can be redeemed -- that is, freed from his fate of eternally gazing only on himself and not being aware of the world or people around him.

On another level, Rilke could also be describing a lover - a lover who is "wildness surrounding wildness," and "tenderness touching tenderness." Again, on this level, perhaps Rilke is suggesting that a wild and tender lover can show us, how to be freed from our own narcissistic self-absorption.